Thomas e



'NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS E. POWER, OF COLUMBIA, MISSOURI.

PIANOFORTE-BRIDGE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,296, dated May 12, 1857.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. POWER, of the town of Columbia, in the countv of Boone and State of Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Method of Waking and Attaching to the Sound-Board the Bridge in Pianofortes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and tothe letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in so making and attaching4 to the sound board the bridge in pianofortes that the treble end of the bridge does not rest upon the sound board, but leaves the sound board free for vibration under the treble strings of the piano, in such manner as to give a more full and round sound to the notes made by the high keys, instead of the thin, wiry, and metallic sound which characterizes them in the old manner of constructing and attaching to the sound board the bridge in pianofortes.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I construct my bridge in the usual shapeh and manner and then proceed to make a shoulder at the point marked a in the accompanying drawing, from which shoulder to the treble end of the bridge, marked L, I take off a thin slice from the under surface of the bridge in such manner as to prevent the bridge from resting upon, or coming in Contact with the sound board, from the point a to the end L. I support the treble end of the bridge by three bars, marked 2), running from the back side of the bridge in the direction generally of the bass end of the bridge, from the ends of which, marked d, I take off a thin slice from the under side, in such manner as to prevent their coming in cont-act with the sound board from the points "64 to their attachment to the bridge. I attach these bars and this bridge to the sound board in the usual manner, except that I only attach the end g of the bridgeand the ends c of the bars to the sound board, leaving a space between the end f of the bridge and the ends cl of the bass and the sound board, the points a in each case being the point at which the separation commences; the under surface, of which the lines marked c in both bridge and bass are the edges, being in Contact with the sound board, and the same surfaces of which the lines marked (l are the edges, remain'- ing unattached in such manner as to permit a vibration of the sound board beneath them.

I do not claim to have invented the bridge in the pianoforte; but

vWhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The cutting away the end of the bridge, upon which the treble strings rest, and the supporting of the same by bars as above described, in such manner as to permit a l greater vibration in the surface of that part of the sound board which is under the treble strings in the pianofortes, to the end thatthe notes sounded by those strings may be more full and perfect, in the manner above described.

THOMAS E. POWER. Witnesses:

JAMES IV. RoLLrNs, BARNEY T. RooHroRD. 

